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Spotlight: Iaconelli Kayak Fishing, WASPCam, Paddle vs Pedal, Bait Sack, Bargain Kayaks

Focus this week crosses over to the professional bass fishing world to some new or lesser-known products which have caught my attention recently:

iaconellirig
New kayak fisherman Mike Iaconelli’s Hobie Pro Angler.

I recently attended a Bass University event featuring some of the top bass fishing pros around and had a chance to visit with one of
the biggest names about kayak bass fishing. As I stood awaiting the elevator, Mike Iaconelli walks around the corner and  we struck up conversation about his recent visit to Swepco Lake. The moment he heard I was a kayak angler,  Ike became very interested and started asking me all sorts of questions. He’d just had Hobie out to his place with a sample Pro Angler model and he was awaiting his personal craft to be delivered soon.  We talked

jasonike
Talking yak fishing with Ike and repping Bending Branches!

for while about fishing from a kayak, standing up, flipping over, and all the general questions a new kayak fisherman might ask. He was telling me that they were trying to figure out a way to mount it up on top of his truck and we talked about how heavy that boat is. At the time, I honestly wasn’t sure how serious he was about it. About two weeks later he posted this photo on his Facebook page – Ike had him a Hobie Pro Angler. I’d love to talk to him again about kayak fishing after he’s had some time on the water. (still not sure how he will load and unload that thing!)

I’ve really become interested in WASPcam as an alternative to GoPro for on the water camera action. First exposed to WASPcam through Angler Combat, as I’ve researched this Canadian company I really like some of the innovative things in their camera options. WASPcam also is at a lower overall price point than GoPro. I’m hoping to share a lot more in the future about WASPCam, including some reviews, but for now this article has some good highlights.

Kayak Fishing Blog continues to crank out great content. This time around I enjoyed the article about choosing a Pedal vs Paddle Kayak. I have owned both and still do, and they both have merit in various situations. Another recent article on Best Bargain Kayaks could be helpful to someone getting into the sport.

Some of my fellow Arkansas Kayak Angler members have been repping the Bait Sack, a product designed to reduce tangling and general mayhem caused by lures tied on your rods but not in use. Here’s a pretty good overview by The Fisherman’s Journal that talks about this tackle organization product. I’m not sure I am detail-oriented enough to use this item, but do see the value.

 

Angler Combat

7 Angler Combat Protips

The new Angler Combat regional structure begins today with three geographic divisions – North, South and the Big 3 (CA, TX, FL). Angler Combat is an online bass fishing tournament with categories for Land, Kayak and Boat fishing. If you haven’t competed in Angler Combat (AC) yet or are just Angler-Combat-Logo-Horizontal-Outer-Glowgetting started, there are a few things to know to ensure you get the most out of the online bass fishing tournament. If you aren’t familiar with AC, take a moment to read this previous article and this one as well.

  1.  Be sure to download the iAngler Tournament App before you get out on the water. It’s important your phone is updated to the most recent operating system and test that you can successfully log in.
  2. Tournaments run monthly from the 1st-28th and each month has a unique monthly identifier. Look up this identifier and have it with you before you are out fishing…sometimes your mobile coverage can be spotty and you’ll need this identifier to submit a fish. If you are having poor reception, you can upload your fish after getting off the water. Photos are geotagged and you can mark the catch location in the app.
  3. When photographing your fish, make sure to understand some specific AC requirements. No fish clips, stringers or bungies are allowed to secure the fish. With AC, the fish must be fIMG_1564acing left with lip touching end of the board, but the mouth may be open.
  4. To prep your hawg trough for use in AC (or any kayak based tournament) use a Sharpie to darken all of the lines and to draw a line along the base of the left lip plate to improve visibility.
  5. Understand the prize payouts – with AC, the more the merrier. The prize payouts grow the more participants there are, so encourage friends to enter! There must be 10 entries per division for any prizes to be awarded. These new rules starting this month have a direct correlation between the number of entrants and the payout structure.
  6. When reviewing the AC Leaderboards, select the Length button at the top of the standings to see each submitted fish by length for each day. Here, you an click the image icon to see full-size images of each fish. You can also click on the Summary button to see the scoring summary for every angler for each day.
  7. After submitting your catch with the iAngler Tournament app, check back later to make sure your photos were accepted and approved. DO NOT delete your photos from your phone until you get verification of acceptance in case you need to resubmit.

Participating in AC is a good way to stay sharp when not in tournaments and can be a fun way to share your catches and compete with others in your region when the fishing heats up later in the year. You could win prizes from some of the AC partners:  Jackson Kayak, Orion Coolers, WASPcam, Boonedox USA, Manley Rods and YakGear. Go sign up and give it a try!

 

Reviews

Angler Combat Drops Big News & Future Plans

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Angler Combat is generating a lot of buzz in the kayak fishing community and is making big moves to continue their invasion of the digital fishing tournament world. If you are an angler who fishes from the bank, a kayak, or from a bass boat, I encourage you to take a look at Angler Combat. Get in now while it’s early because I predict it will explode in popularity in 2016 and beyond. They are now announcing some big changes which will help with this growth…keep reading for their big news!

OK, so what is Angler Combat?
Angler Combat is a catch, photo and release (CPR) oriented digital tournament where participants compete within a broad geography against other anglers. What makes Angler Combat unique is it includes three competitive divisions – Land, Kayak and Boat. No anglercombatother tournament series provides anglers from almost anywhere an ability to compete, no matter how they choose to fish. Competitors are ranked by their top five fish submitted via the iAngler Tournament app, using a unique identifier code for each 28 day tournament period. For a $10 monthly entry fee, division winners can walk away with a significant cash prize or some other high end prizes. To get an idea about the experience, read this round-table discussion about Angler Combat from some Arkansas Kayak Angler members who have been actively competing.

For a tournament series which only began in November of 2015, Angler Combat has already gained a lot of awareness and notoriety thanks to word of mouth and social media. Their officials report that they have averaged more than 100 competitors in each of the first three months, which is already ahead of their initial expectations (especially in these winter months). There has been some interesting data coming in from the first three monthly tournaments. One of the most surprising stats is that on average, anglers fishing from the bank are out-catching those in kayaks and boats. It’s reported that competitors in the “Land” category are submitting better five fish totals on average. At first this is very surprising, but they say this is likely because bank fishermen can fish more, often daily while on a lunch break or before or after work. The more you fish, the more you catch to turn in. So far the prize packages have been impressive, thanks to some of their key sponsors: Jackson Kayak, Orion Coolers, WASPcam, Boonedox USA, Manley Rods and YakGear, among others.

Big News #1 – NEW Division Structure Begins in February
The crew at Angler Combat has been listening to their participants and analyzing the data. With a bit of number crunching they have determined there is a competitive imbalance between the fishing new map ACqualities in some of the states currently in the South division. Beginning this February, Florida, Texas and California will be broken out into their own division call the Big “3” division. This may lower the participation total in the short term in each division but will be a great improvement overall and I believe will help them grow more quickly with a level playing field. This should address the top concern about Angler Combat in our AKA roundtable discussion and review of Angler Combat.

Big News #2 – Marketing Blitz and Tournament Expansion Plans
This is only the beginning of the growth as they plan to begin to seriously market the tournament series, including a new television commercial recently filmed in Florida. Anyone who competes in Angler Combat should be pleased as they increase their TV and online marketing, which will improve the participation numbers and in turn will drive up prize values. In addition to a ramped up marketing push, there are also plans in the works for expanded contests and prizes, and eventually the launch of Striper and Redfish online tournaments.

Big News #3 – Television Series
The most intriguing and exciting news to me about the future of Angler Combat is their plan to launch a competition-style television show which would air on a well-known fishing network. This show is said to feature fishing pros competing against amateurs who are winners in Angler Combat monthly tournaments – showing their battles for supremacy. Pros against talented locals in Land, Kayak and Boat showdowns should be very entertaining. We should hear a lot more about this television project in the coming months. Stay tuned.

These are lots of positive moves which will improve or enhance an already fun online tournament which could be the next big thing. My advice? Get started now, sign up and compete. Get in early and you will be an Angler Combat veteran by the time it goes main stream.